iSport Cricket Paddock: While Mumbai Indians are out ruling the roost in the current season of the IPL, iSporter Anmol Singh Diddan rues that the Mumbai cricket fans are not the same as before. A unique story right from the Brabourne Stadium.
Ganapati Bappa.....Oh bolo bolo ganapati bappa.......MORYA.......
Ek do ek do Symonds ko phenk do...........Ae o ae o Brett Lee is an a**h**e........
Sounds familiar? I bet it would if you were a fan of the North Stand at Wankhede Stadium. The Mumbai crowd has been quite famous for certain wrong reasons mentioned above. We had the very famous Ricky Ponting complaining about the crowd; not that they listened henceforth.
The Mumbai crowd has always been associated to being hostile towards the opposition. They sure know how to get behind the home team; be it India or now The Mumbai Indians. Of course, then they never let go of any opportunity to hail their Lord – Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
The Mumbai crowd sure is hostile, very hostile indeed. The hostility can get to the opposition as it had done to Yuvraj Singh; the Kings XI Punjab skipper in 2008 (He complained about the crowd and reminded them, sarcastically, that some players of Punjab also play for India in the post match presentation). But, there is a difference between being hostile and being unsporting. The people of Mumbai are among the most informed about the sport in the country. Thus, they appreciate good cricket by the opposition; they just do it in a hostile manner!
But, this year’s IPL; well there is something missing. The X-factor of the Mumbai crowd just does not seem to be there anymore. I have been to two matches so far and have returned disappointed. The excitement is just very dull.
There is very little of the Ganapati Bappa Morya. There is absolutely no sign of the world renowned hostility. There is a lot of ‘Sachin, Sachin, Sachin’ as God demands that from its most faithful naturally. But, otherwise there is no fun anymore. Anyone who has been to a match in the North Stand at Wankhede even as recently as IPL-1 will definitely know what I am talking about.
There are reasons behind such leveling of a usually very different Mumbai crowd that would stand apart from other cricketing mega-centres of the country. I can only talk of this year’s IPL as there has been very little cricket in Mumbai lately; just a Test match where you don’t expect such crowds and the India v Australia rained out ODI at DY Patil in Navi Mumbai.
The prime reason for the dampening or in some other people’s words civilization of the crowd has been due to the exorbitant ticket prices. IPL has probably the greatest crowd pulling power for any cricket event in the world and it is using that to the fullest. There is just a small block in the Eastern Stand that costs Rs. 500. The rest of the East is for Rs. 1,000. Upper North is for Rs. 3,000 and Lower North for Rs. 5,000. There goes the hostility of the North Stand. Upper West is also for Rs. 1,500.
Thus, such rates have put the stadium out of the reach of the fan that would entertain and enrich the experience of watching a match in ‘Mumbai’. Also, the CCI is a much more quieter and traditional venue as compared to Wankhede; thus, maybe less hostile. But, rewind to India v Australia in 2007; first ever T20 in India at Brabourne East Stand for Rs. 250 and the same features were evident in hordes.
I feel such an uncharacteristic Mumbai crowd has made for a very boring experience inside the stadium for someone like me who is used to the other side of the Mumbai cricket lovers. Some would argue that this makes them more civilized which was sorely needed but I just say that it is getting boring. Hope the hostile times return!!
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a guest
said:
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... bingo! i was there as well for that ODI in '07 and remember that the whole stand called Symonds a Monkey even though an official announcement had been made not to so!! i just hope that when Wankhede is back, it does not have tiers in the north stand and build it as one whole stand like it was! |
a guest
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... ' Aye oh .. Aye oh ..Dillon is a bastard' , 'Hoggy is a doggy' 'Inky Pinky Ponky , Symonds is a monkey' 'Kashmir mei thandi hai , Benazir ... hai' (even though the match is between India and West Indies ) All are examples of us being uncivilized , and have caused major embarassment to our city. Clearly remember David Shepherd indicating to the crowd to mind their language when we were going at Mervyn Dillon.. And u did mention about the announcements too .. If at all these chants have reduced , it is only good.. ( have to admit though , I too have been a part of all of this.. only to realise later tht our behaviour was deplorable) At the Wankhede , it is the North Stand where all the noise and the hooting emanates from ... which has always been full of young enthusiastic junta of the city. North Stand is THE place to be. It is like everyone there knows everyone,is probably in the same college, was in the same school or lives in the same locality or has probably met at a match before. and all we cared about was being loud and raucous.. Now with the matches shifting to CCI and Dy Patil , the entire crowd has got divided - having to make do with tickets in the stands square of the wicket. -- Puneet Miskeen |
Jigar Mehta
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... NORTH STAND ROCKSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS I HAVE BEEN TO ALMOST ALL THE MATCHES IN MUMBAI AND IN ALL THE STADIUMS, YESTERDAY I WAS INSIDE THE STADIUM BUT THE CROWD COMPARED TO WANKHEDE WAS NOT AT ALL AT THEIR BEST....................................................................... |
a guest
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... what an article...truely relevant..ur absolutely right wen u said that its due to the expensive ticketing policy..but m sure once wankhede is renovated and has a 50k odd capacity, tkt prices will reduce and the chutzpah will be back.. - sohel |
Anmol Singh Diddan
said:
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... North Stand was North Stand. Nothing can beat it. @ Sohel: thanks and I hope the ticket prices come down or Mumbai will be just another venue  |
Anmol Singh Diddan
said:
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... Thank u all for the comments...Keep the interactions and feedback going |
a guest
said:
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... The charm of playin a match in mumbai will be lost if the ticket prices of the north stand are not slashed down! |
a guest
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... wat a refreshing topic! away frm mumbai due to work n hence been missin out on da matched played...askd my bro wen he'd gne to brabourne n he said da match was good bt crowd was okay (dnt knw wich stand bt he paid abt 800 for it) man i cherish the memories @ north stand! some fine examples.. 1) gilchrist is a b**stard..ae o ae o.. (wid gilchrist lookin back at times to egg us on indicating ' cmon louder mates') 2) wankhede mein aaya bhut...ponting ki.....ahem! 3) even da umprires werent spared..ch**iya banaya bada maza aaaya (wen an appeal by da opposition wd be turned down hehe) 4) Ganpati Bappa Morya...( wen times are way too good or wen da third ump decision is pending) 5) mumbai ka don kaun...sachin sachin! 6) yuvraj ki bhen kaun...kim sharma kim sharma!! 7) item....item....sadeli... (lol...each tme ANY chick was shown on da screen)  australia ke g*te jaaam...zandu balm zandu balm... 9) neem ka patta kadwa hai...pakistan ka bh**wa hai!! (against all opppostions!!) 10) east stand hai hai...east stand hai hai (wen da upper crest sittin in adjoinin east stand wud break da mexican wave!!) bt all time favs.. singin 'hum honge kamyaam' wid 500 oder pple n the National Anthem!! goosebumps!  |
a guest
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... another one...when murali was on the boundary," Deepa Bar, Deepa BAr" referencing to the Tarnnum controversy...mumbaikars r aware of the current affairs, aren't they...but i personally feel such remarks r bad nad derogatory |
Saurabh Joshi
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... Well Anmol you got what you wanted... a hostile Mumbai crowd....and the chants were Yuvi Sucks Yuvi Sucks !!! BTW just a information...the guards in the stadium are pretty active in terms of stopping people from abusing..... but today was different... may be the guards were off  |
Anmol Singh Diddan
said:
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... I was not there at the ground today........yes, the guards hav become better nd stricter |
a guest
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... the worst crowd the mumbaikars doesn't have unity among themselves see Bangalore stadium m chinnaswamy stadium it vow best voted among the cheers and support we give for players.in the world cup when it was India vs England wen Indian team was singing the national anthem there was pin drop silence in the crowd. hey mumbaikars u always loose with Bangalore. |
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